Flying Club Maintenance Officer?

In a previous article, David Megginson said:
In Canada, a flying club (at least in my part of the country) is
essentially a non-profit FBO, and some of them date back to the 1920's
to 1940's (in the late 1920's, for example, our flying club founded

Oshawa Flying Club was founded on Commonwealth Air Training Plan cast-off
aircraft. Like Ottawa it's got a club house with a snack bar that appears
to be staffed on weekends, and a huge number of members.

In the U.S., it sounds like a flying club is more like a big
partnership.

I think there are US clubs like yours, but ours is essentially a big
partnership. There are two flying clubs at Greater Rochester
International Airport, ours which charges only a nominal initiation fee
($750) and Artisan which sells you a share (over $16,000 last time I
checked). Ours doesn't refund anything when you quit, and Artisan buys
your share back. They've also got a better plane/member ratio.

I've seen flying clubs in the US where there are members who own their own
planes which they make available to the club members as a sort of
lease-back thing.

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
It could have been raining flaming bulldozers, and those idiots would have
been standing out there smoking, going 'hey, look at that John Deere burn!'
-- Texan AMD security guard

On 11-Sep-2003, Chris Spierings wrote:

The last
guy to do it, did an outstanding job but spent 20-30 hours a week some
weeks riding herd on things and verifying that the fbo and its
maintenance folks did what they said they did and then did it properly.


Unless this time includes some "owner-operator" maintenance like oil
changes, or your fleet includes something exotic, 20-30 hrs per week to
"ride herd on things" seems really excessive. I doubt that my co-owners and
I collectively spend more than 1 hr per week on average to see to it that
routine and unanticipated maintenance gets done on our Arrow. Maybe the
problem is the FBO that is doing your maintenance. In our case, when we
need maintenance we call the chief mechanic at our FBO and he sees to it
that the plane is serviced as requested. Squawks are communicated between
the owners by e-mail, but we could also do it by postings to the plane's web
site.
--
-Elliott Drucker

It isn't just the maintenance. In a typical club, just about everything
that happens on the ramp will fall into the MO's lap. With a few co-owners
communication is easy. With 20 - 30 members there is a lot more
communication required. The PIC has a very high level of responsibility for
the condition of the aircraft when the wheels leave the ground. It isn't
practical to let 30 members go through the logbooks so keeping them informed
and up to date on AD's and other maintenance issues so they have a basis for
fulfilling their responsibility is a big part of the job.

Owner's are also far more responsible for the maintenance of the aircraft
than many (or most) realize. It isn't sufficient to just call the shop and
tell them to do whatever needs to be done and put the plane back on line.
The MO should be up to date on things like AD's, independently verifying
that the shop is doing what is required, checking logbook entries, etc.
This takes some time.

The owner / operator is responsible for the maintenance. The shop works for
the owner / operator. The owner / operator is required to supervise the
shop.
--
Roger Long

"Roger Long" om writes:

It isn't practical to let 30 members go through the logbooks so
keeping them informed and up to date on AD's and other maintenance
issues so they have a basis for fulfilling their responsibility is a
big part of the job.

That's an interesting national difference -- in Canada, the first step
of every flying lesson I took, from my intro flight on, was going
through the journey log to check for airworthiness. The big items
were compass swing, ELT check, and last inspection, but we also had to
look for snags, deferred defects, etc. They didn't have us check for
AD's. When you sign out a plane from the dispatch desk at my flying
club, you always get the Hobbs board and the big blue journey log
(usually falling apart to some degree).

Nowadays, I just keep my Warrior's journey log in the flight bag.


All the best,


David

It isn't really a national difference. Strictly speaking, every club member
here should read through the logs also. In the real world, it wouldn't mean
much to them though.

The words "Maintenance Officer" don't appear in the regulations. The fact
that there is one does not change the PIC's responsibility one whit. The
PIC is delegating part of the job to the MO but remains just as responsible.
The PIC better trust the MO and be sure he is doing the job. If there is an
incident or a ramp check, telling the inspector "Oh, we have a maintenance
officer and he takes care of all that stuff." isn't going to demonstrate
that the PIC was able to fulfil his responsibility. Being able to pull out
a book carried in the plane and show summaries of AD compliance, next
required maintenance times, etc. may not meet the strictest interpretation
of the regs but should usually be sufficient in the real world. If it's
backed up by evidence that the owner's supervise and verify that the MO is
doing his job and the MO supervises and verifies that the shop is doing
theirs, they will probably be satisfied that there is not a pattern of
disregard for the regulations. They'll still nail you on some obscure
little point that you missed if the want to. If they think you are trying,
they'll be less likely to want to.

--
Roger Long
David Megginson wrote in message
...
"Roger Long" om writes:

It isn't practical to let 30 members go through the logbooks so
keeping them informed and up to date on AD's and other maintenance
issues so they have a basis for fulfilling their responsibility is a
big part of the job.

That's an interesting national difference -- in Canada, the first step
of every flying lesson I took, from my intro flight on, was going
through the journey log to check for airworthiness. The big items
were compass swing, ELT check, and last inspection, but we also had to
look for snags, deferred defects, etc. They didn't have us check for
AD's. When you sign out a plane from the dispatch desk at my flying
club, you always get the Hobbs board and the big blue journey log
(usually falling apart to some degree).

Nowadays, I just keep my Warrior's journey log in the flight bag.


All the best,


David

Chris,

I am the Operations Officer for our club of 4 aircraft,
www.glendaleflying.com. I am not a A&P, so it I had a learning curve.
I think it was a great move. I have learned more about ever system of
our planes than I thought I would. You will discuss issues with
mechanics, research regs, AD, SB and get some hands on experience if
you really get into it. You can get familiar enough to order your own
parts and save money that way as well. I have been very envolved with
the purchase of our 4th plane and buying a new engine for our Skylane.
I could have never done that on my own without the help of a lottery.

I have started to do all of our own preventative mx, which has saved
the club a lot of money. This all does take a lot of my time, but I
feel compensated with education. I feel very comfortable that if I am
stranded at an aiport away from home with a mx issue, I will be able
to have a good idea of what the problem is and the level of
seriousness it brings.

We originally has a crew chief for each aircraft as well, but I soon
found myself managing 4 people as well as 4 aircraft. If your help
isn't deticated things don't get done. I now have an assistant that I
can really count on to help keep thind supplies, make some calls and
ferry some planes.

If you take the position, enjoy it. Feel free to contact me further
if you'd like.

Tony
www.glendaleflying.com


Chris Spierings wrote in message ...
I'm a member of a local flying club which has ~30 members and 3
aircraft. A number of the club's long standing members have moved on in
the last year or so and now its time for some of the other folks to step
up and take the reins.

One of the jobs that is open is the club maintenance officer. The last
guy to do it, did an outstanding job but spent 20-30 hours a week some
weeks riding herd on things and verifying that the fbo and its
maintenance folks did what they said they did and then did it properly.

Could anyone share information on the arrangements they've been
associated with in terms of overseeing aircraft maintenance. If its in
a club setting even better.

I hoping the experiences of the group will give us more options than
asking one poor soul to bear the burden of all of this on their own.

Thanks

Chris Spierings

(Read this on your club's website - History. www.glendaleflying.com)

Glendale has always been based at Bowman Field in Louisville, Kentucky, at
one time the busiest airport in the country.

Really? When? More history please.

Very nice website, BTW. Enjoy looking at the trip photos.

--
Montblack


("Tony" wrote)
I am the Operations Officer for our club of 4 aircraft,
www.glendaleflying.com.

Sure thing.

Here is another link to Louisville Intl's website about Bowman Field:
http://www.louintlairport.com/HtmlFi...man/lia-9d.htm

Tony

"Montblack" wrote in message ...
(Read this on your club's website - History. www.glendaleflying.com)

Glendale has always been based at Bowman Field in Louisville, Kentucky, at
one time the busiest airport in the country.

Really? When? More history please.

Very nice website, BTW. Enjoy looking at the trip photos.

Nice site, but...

....85$/hr for a wet tach 182?! I have to stop reading non-Bay Area
club web sites I get too depressed.

Chris Spierings wrote in message ...
I'm a member of a local flying club which has ~30 members and 3
aircraft. A number of the club's long standing members have moved on in
the last year or so and now its time for some of the other folks to step
up and take the reins.

One of the jobs that is open is the club maintenance officer. The last
guy to do it, did an outstanding job but spent 20-30 hours a week some
weeks riding herd on things and verifying that the fbo and its
maintenance folks did what they said they did and then did it properly.

Yes, I've done this job with just one airplane. It take a ton of time.
Between making sure the IFR cert, the ELT inspection, etc is done you
also are always on the phone making sure you are on the schedule for
annual, ordering small parts to save money, tracking down shipments,
sending off oil analysis, etc ,etc. Add to that any need to move the
plane for maintenance since few fields have all the different types of
maintenance available. I am 100% sure that a club with 3 planes could
take 20 hours a week. Perhaps each plane needs its own guy?
-Robert